N 


TN 

911 

1 4 


'A  *N 


INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  AMERICAN  REPUBLICS 

JOHN     B.ARRE.TT.     DIRECTOR 
FRANCISCO  J.  YANES,  SECRETARY 


THE  GREAT  NITRATE  FIELDS 
OF  CHILE 


(Reprint  of  an  article  from  the  Monthly  Bulletin  of  the  International 
Bureau  of  American  Republics,  July,  1908) 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1909 


INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  AMERICAN  REPUBLICS 

JOHN     BARRE1TT,     D  I  R  El  C  T  O  R 
FRANCISCO  J.  YANES,  SECRETARY 


THE  GREAT  NITRATE  FIELDS 
OF  CHILE 


(Reprint  of  an  article  from  the  Monthly  Bulletin  of  the  International 
Bureau  of  American  Republics,  July,  1 908) 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1909 


GREAT  NITRATE  FIELDS 
OF  CHILE. 

The  nitrate  fields  of  South  America  exported  in  1830,  the  first  year 
of  the  industry,  8,348  tons  of  crude  mineral.  Chile,  to  which  Repub- 
lic these  fields  now  belong,  exported,  in  1907, 1,833,800  tons.  Between 
these  two  dates  the  history  and  development  of  one  of  the  great  nat- 
ural products  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  must  be  studied. 

The  saltpeter,  or  nitrate,  zone  embraces  the  extension  compre- 
hended between  the  Camarones  River  in  south  latitude  19°  11'  on  the 
north  and  parallel  27°  to  the  port  of  Caldera  on  the  south,  a  distance 
of  450  miles  from  one  end  to  the  other.  The  interval  separating  the 
deposits  from  the  coast  varies.  They  never  come  close  to  the  sea — in 
the  northern  part  the  sea  is  only  15  miles  away,  in  the  southern  part 
it  is  93  miles  away.  These  deposits  in  the  Province  of  Tarapaca  oc- 
cupy the  small  folds  and  the  gently  rising  hills  extending  from  the 
west  of  the  pampas  of  Tamarugal,  but  to  the  south  of  the  Loa  River 
they  follow  no  lode,  being  found  in  the  midst  of  the  great  pampas  as 
well  as  in  the  folds  of  some  of  the  hills.  Neither  are  the  deposits 
found  on  the  lower  levels  of  the  western  slope  of  the  Andes ;  they  lie 
at  an  altitude  of  from  3,600  to  13,000  feet  above  the  sea.  But,  fortu- 
nately, this  is  no  obstacle  to  mining  or  transporting  the  finished  ma- 
terial, because  the  hills  and  mountains  along  this  coast  come  precipi- 
tously close  to  the  water,  so  that,  even  where  railroads  are  in  service, 
47648— Bull.  1,  pt  1—08 3  27 


28          INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU   OF  THE  AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 

from  the  heights  at  which  the  nitrate  fields  are  situated  the  bags  con- 
taining the  commercial  nitrate  can  be  shot  by  the  force  of  gravity  to 
the  dispatching  warehouses  in  the  harbors.  This  region,  the  nitrate 
zone,  is  as  barren  as  any  place  on  earth ;  it  is  one  of  the  paradoxes  of 
nature's  laboratory,  because  no  living  thing  can  find  nourishment 
here,  although  from  these  very  nitrates  nourishment  is  given  to 
impoverished  soils  all  the  world  over. 


SHOWS 
-NITRATE    FIILLD3 


FIG.  2. — Nitrate  fields. 

The  climate,  on  the  other  hand,  is  delightful.  Although  it  rarely 
rains  on  the  nitrate  desert,  it  is  neither  oppressively  hot  nor  cold,  so 
that  natives  and  foreigners  alike  find  life  agreeable  and  healthful  so 
long  as  they  trust  to  nature  and  the  simple  foods,  which  must  be 
brought  hither  from  outside  the  zone. 

Along  this  stretch  of  450  miles  of  nitrate  coast  are  many  of  the 
best-known  ports  of  Chile.  First,  at  the  north,  comes  Pisagua ;  then 
Junin,  Caleta  Buena,  Iquique,  Tocopilla,  Mejillones,  Antofagasta, 


THE   GREAT   NITRATE   FIELDS   OF    CHILE.  29 

Coloso,  Taltal,  with  Caldera  at  the  extreme  south.  The  nitrates  from 
the  Province  of  Tarapaca  are  shipped  through  the  ports  of  Iquique 
and  Pisagua,  while  the  product  of  the  regions  farther  south  seek  the 
nearest  ports.  Not  one  of  these  offers  safe,  natural  anchorage,  but 
each  has  been  selected  altogether  on  account  of  its  availability  as  a 
shipping  place  for  nitrates.  Vessels  lie  in  the  open  roadstead,  and 
the  cargoes  are  lightered  out  to  them  in  the  native  way  devised  many 
years  ago,  but  which  modern  mechanical  skill  will  not  be  able  to 
supersede  until  breakwaters  and  piers  allow  these  vessels  to  approach 
closer  to  shore.  The  cargoes  brought  to  these  ports  are  extraordi- 
narily miscellaneous,  because,  since  nothing  is  produced  in  this  region, 
everything  must  therefore  be  imported.  Coal  is  probably  the  larger 
portion  of  the  freight ;  but  in  addition  all  necessaries  like  food,  both 
canned  and  fresh;  all  liquids,  even  water  to  quench  thirst  and  to 


PLAIN  OF  TAMARUC.AI 


V ISM.LtS       TO      35     MlLCS * ABOUT     45     MlLtS    .   .    -»' 

!  I 

FIG.  3. — General  east  and  west  section  of  the  nitrate  district  of  Chile.     Vertical  scale 

exaggerated. 

extinguish  fire;  all  clothing  and  building  material;  all  luxuries  and 
decorations;  even  the  soil  from  which  spring  the  pretty  trees  and 
flowers  in  the  plazas  and  patios,  must  be  imported,  both  to  sustain 
life  and  to  make  it  endurable.  These  are  the  loads  carried  into  the 
nitrate  ports,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  proportion  of  the 
more  precious  minerals — gold,  silver,  and  copper — mined  also  in  this 
zone,  nothing  is  produced  that  can  be  carried  away  but  nitrates. 

The  saltpeter  in  these  nitrate  deposits  is  found  mixed  with  other 
substances,  in  which  generally  common  salt  predominates,  but  the 
conglomeration  is  usually,  besides  this,  clay,  gravel,  and  sulphate  of 
soda.  There  are  four  strata  recognized  in  the  fields,  although  the 
composition  of  each  varies  from  location  to  location.  The  uppermost 
layer  is  called  chuca,  and  consists  of  the  surface  accumulation  of  the 
ages ;  the  second  layer  is  called  costra,  which  is  firmer  in  consistency, 


30 


INTERNATIONAL   BUREAU   OF    THE   AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 


thicker  than  the  chuca  above,  and  much  harder  to  penetrate.  Be- 
low this  costra  is  found  the  caliche,  the  real,  natural  deposit  of  nitrate 
of  soda,  which  may  be  almost  pure  chemically,  but  which  is  consid- 
ered commercially  valuable  if  it  runs  above  30  per  cent  of  the  salt. 

The  origin  of  these  deposits  of  nitrate  has  been  for  years  a  matter  of 
speculation  and  theory;  but  no  one  theory  explains  with  complete 
satisfaction  how  or  why  nature  selected  such  an  immense  area  here, 
and  apparently  nowhere  else,  for  such  a  dense  accumulation  of  min- 
eral wealth.  It  has  puzzled  geologists  and  meteorologists  alike,  but 
the  owners  of  the  fields  and  the  Government  of  Chile  are  content  to 


FIG.  4. — The  nitrate 

accept  the  facts  and  to  leave  the  theory  to  the  fancy  and  imagination 
of  the  learned. 

Below  the  caliche  is  the  lowest  stratum  of  bed  rock  called  gova,  from 
which  the  first  step  of  the  mining  operation  is  conducted.  The 
method  of  extracting  caliche  is  extremely  simple  when  compared  with 
the  elaborate  machinery  necessary  in  obtaining  other  minerals.  A 
cata  or  small  shaft  is  sunk  through  the  surface  deposits  and  through 
the  caliche  to  the  bed  of  clay  or  gravel,  the  gova.  Here  a  hole  is 
scooped  out,  in  which  a  small  boy  places  a  charge  of  powder  or  dyna- 
mite. This  is  exploded.  The  resultant  debris  is  divided  into  masses 


THE   GREAT    NITRATE   FIELDS    OF    CHILE. 


31 


that  may  be  used  for  building  material  or  such  indifferent  work,  while 
the  caliche  is  collected  by  itself,  placed  in  mule  carts  and  driven  to 
the  factory,  or  oficina. 

The  caliche  itself  is  a  combination  of  nitrate  of  soda,  varying  from 
14  to  75  per  cent  or  more;  sulphate  of  soda,  sodium  chloride,  iodine 
salts,  small  proportions  of  potash,  magnesium,  and  lime,  with  insolu- 
ble matter.  With  the  exception  of  the  iodine,  and  in  some  cases  the 
common  salt,  these  being  saved  as  by-products  for  other  purposes,  the 
entire  industry  of  the  oficina  is  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  the  ni- 
trate in  such  a  form  that  it  may  be  economically  exported.  The 


port  of  Taltal. 

caliche  is  first  crushed,  and  it  is  then  run  into  huge  boiling  tanks, 
where  the  salts  are  dissolved,  the  sand  and  other  refuse  sinking  to  the 
bottom.  Fortunately,  the  nitrate  has  a  different  point  of  solubility 
from  other  salts,  and  can,  therefore,  be  precipitated  by  itself  as  the 
water  cools.  When  it  has  crystallized  in  large  cooling  pans  or  vats, 
the  dry  nitrate  is  put  up  into  bags  and  dispatched  for  shipment. 

These  oficinas  are  establishments  thoroughly  well  equipped  with 
modern  machinery  and  chemical  laboratories  for  the  scientific  pro- 
duction of  nitrate.  Each  oficina  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  field  from 
which  its  caliche  is  obtained;  it  is  a  collection  of  buildings,  above 


32 


INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU   OF   THE  AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 


which  rises  a  smokestack,  but  all,  the  crushers,  the  boiling  tanks,  the 
settling  vats  and  other  quarters,  being  devoted  to  a  single  purpose. 
An  important  part  of  this  complicated  process,  but  one  subordinate  to 
the  main  desire  to  secure  as  much  nitrate  as  possible,  is  designed  for 
the  preparation  of  iodine  from  the  nitrate  liquor.  Iodine  is  a  con- 
stituent, in  most  fields,  of  the  caliche,  and  has  a  recognizable  commer- 
cial value,  although  the  demand  is  limited  and  the  supply  can  be  fur- 
nished from  other  countries  than  Chile. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  oficinas,  as  well  as  of  the  towns  lying 
within  the  nitrate  belt,  is  the  persistent  determination  to  make  them 
attractively  habitable  for  those  who  must  spend  a  greater  portion  of 
their  lives  there.  In  the  early  days  of  the  industry  water  was  brought 

in  pails  by  coasting  vessels 
up  and  down  the  Pacific; 
later  it  was  piped  from 
sources  in  the  Andes; 
but  to-day,  wherever  the 
supply  is  too  costly  or  un- 
certain, water  is  distilled 
from  the  sea.  Nothing 
grows  indigenously  here, 
but  the  traveler  will  no- 


tice plazas,  patios,  and 
potted  plants,  even  grass  at 
times,  at  every  port  and 
oficina.  This  miracle  is 
accomplished  by  the  im- 
portation of  all  ingredients  for  horticulture ;  the  earth  itself  has  been 
carried  here  to  make  a  soil  foundation,  and  the  people  cherish  these 
exotics  with  the  utmost  devotion. 

Chile  has  frequently  been  dismayed  at  the  fear  that  the  supply 
of  nitrate  would  become  exhausted.  This  would  mean  not  only  a 
disturbance  of  chemical  conditions  throughout  the  world,  but  also 
a  disastrous  fall  in  the  income  the  Chilean  Government  derived 
from  the  export  tax  placed  upon  this  product.  Certain  calculations 
made  a  few  years  ago  demonstrated  that,  so  far  as  the  region  of 
the  Province  of  Tarapaca  was  concerned,  assuming  the  steady 
increase  in  consumption  which  has  marked  the  spreading  knowledge 
of  the  use  of  nitrates,  the  supply  could  scarcely  last  through  the  next 
thirty-five  years.  It  was  estimated  that  100,000,000  tons  of  nitrate 
were  then  unmined;  the  annual  exportation  has  practically  touched 
the  mark  of  2,000,000  tons,  and  is  continuously  increasing,  so  that  an 
easy  problem  in  arithmetic  shows  how  close  the  end  is.  Yet  there  are 
several  factors  at  work  to  dispel  this  dismay.  The  first  and  most 
important  is  the  fact  that  it  has  been  definitely  determined  that 


•h    GUNTOWPCK 

FIG.  5. — Section  of  a  "  Tiro  " — ready  for  blasting. 


THE   GREAT    NITRATE   FIELDS   OF    CHILE.  33 

nitrate  is  by  no  means  limited  to  Tarapaca ;  in  the  Provinces  of 
Antofagasta  and  Atacama  hitherto  unexplored  beds  of  nitrate  have 
been  discovered.  These  beds  are  said  to  be  capable  of  furnishing 
1,500,000,000  tons  additional.  This  supply,  with  the  fields  already 
exploited,  makes  available  a  total  of  1,600,000,000  tons,  and  assum- 
ing the  world's  consumption  to  be  annually  5,000,000,  which  will 
probably  be  the  normal  demand  within  a  few  years,  there  will  be 


FIG.  6. — Explosion  in  caliche  bed. 

enough  to  last  for  over  three  hundred  years.  The  second  factor 
is  the  more  refined  methods  introduced  by  modern  chemistry  into 
the  industry  at  the  oficinas.  In  early  years  the  crude  caliche  itself 
was  used  at  home  and  exported;  later,  when  its  value  was  found  to 
lie  in  the  nitrate  constituent,  it  was  found  cheaper  and  more  profit- 
able to  extract  the  salt  on  the  spot,  even  if  much  of  the  mineral  was 
lost.  To-day,  a  product  of  95  per  cent  pure  nitrate  is  sent  from 
the  oficinas  to  be  shipped  abroad.  This  extremely  high  percentage, 


34 


INTERNATIONAL   BUREAU    OF   THE   AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 


however,  came  from  caliche  which  in  itself  contained  at  least  14 
per  cent  and  usually  not  less  than  50  per  cent  of  nitrate  of  soda. 


FIG.  7. — Caliche  ready  for  transport  to  oflcina. 

Every  year  new  methods  are  tried  and  introduced  to  obtain  equally 
good  results  from  low  grade  caliche.     Claims  are  made  that  a  7  per 


'aliche  at  the  crusher. 


cent  ore  can  be  profitably  mined  and  refined.     There  is  no  doubt, 
therefore,  that  all  the  nitrate  rock  in  the  Chile  desert  will,  as  the 


THE   GREAT   NITRATE   FIELDS   OF    CHILE. 


35 


demand  increases,  be  available  for  commercial  uses.  The  third  fac- 
tor in  the  nitrate  problem  is  the  determination,  on  the  part  of  Chile 
as  well  as  on  the  part  of  the  owners  of  nitrate  concessions  and  fields, 


FIG.    9. — Administration   Building. 


to  do  everything  reasonable  and  warrantable  to  conserve  the  supply 
so  that  demand  and  output  balance  each  in  a  normal  way. 


FIG.  10. — Machinery  used  in  preparing  the  nitrate  and  iodine. 

The  Government  of  Chile  has  for  years  placed  a  tax  upon  the  export 
of  this  natural  product.  This  tax  is  now  at  the  rate  of  $0.438  gold 
per  101.41  pounds.  Chile  has  laid  this  tax  since  the  year  1880,  and 


36          INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU    OF   THE   AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 

has  derived  from  it  the  sum  of  $280,000,000  gold,  up  to  1904,  without 
taking  into  account  the  revenue  from  iodine  or  the  sale  of  nitrate 


FIG.  11. — Nitrate  pans. 

lands.    In  addition  to  this  tax,  which  naturally  Chile  is  anxious  to 
retain,  the  Government  restricts  the  distribution  of  new  lands  and  is 


FIG.  12.— Train  load  of  nitrate. 


cautious  about  the  lessees  or  purchasers  who  are  to  have  the  benefit 
of  them.    Special  laws  are  issued  to  protect  this  one-time  wilderness, 


THE   GREAT    NITRATE   FIELDS    OF    CHILE. 


37 


and  what,  eighty  years  ago,  any  one  could  have  had  for  the  asking 
and  be  laughed  at  for  his  pains,  is  now  held  so  precious  that  only 
properly  accredited  concessionaires  can  have  the  privilege  of  occupy- 
ing it.  With  this  output  restricted  by  the  Government,  and  allowing 
for  a  10  per  cent  increase  in  consumption  every  five-year  period  for 
the  next  twenty  years,  the  tax  will  have  yielded  to  the  Government  by 
the  close  of  1923  the  sum  of  $400,000,000  gold,  a  steady  source  of  in- 
come of  which  any  country  in  the  world  ought  to  be  proud.  This 
assumes,  of  course,  that  nitrate  will  not  be  discovered  in  any  other 
deposits  sufficient  to  offer  competition  to  those  in  Chile,  and  that 
science  can  not  develop  some  method  by  which  nitrates  (or  nitric  acid) 
may  be  derived  from  some  such  inexhaustible  supply  like  the  at- 


FIG.  13. — Dissolving  nitrate  from  crushed  caliche. 

mosphere.     But  neither  danger  is  close  enough  to  threaten  the  in- 
dustry as  established  here. 

Partly  for  the  protection  of  its  members  and  partly  in  support  of 
this  enlightened  policy  of  the  Government  of  Chile,  the  association 
of  nitrate  producers  has  been  formed.  This  Asociacion  Salitrera  de 
Propaganda,  as  it  is  called,  has  a  double  purpose.  It  hopes  to  keep 
the  production  of  nitrate  within  limits  set  by  itself,  according  to 
which  scheme  only  just  sufficient  salt  will  be  annually  mined  to  meet 
the  world's  demand  at  the  price  best  suited  to  yield  a  commendable 
profit.  Of  the  100  or  more  oficinas  in  the  association,  each  pledges 
itself  to  produce  only  its  quota  of  nitrate  allotted  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year  by  the  association.  The  association  attempts  thereby  to  keep 
the  price  commensurate  with  the  restricted  output.  Whether  this 


38 


INTERNATIONAL   BUREAU    OF   THE   AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 


method  will  be  successful  in  the  long  run  is  one  of  the  complicated 
questions  of  modern  finance  debated  on  all  occasions  by  the  student  of 
trust  economics.  The  association  ended  its  first  five  year's  compact  in 
1907,  and  another  has  been  formed,  but  the  time  has  been  too  short  to 
bring  a  definite  decision  as  to  its  effectiveness. 


FIG.  14.— Machinery  in  the  Oficina. 

^  subjoined  charts  illustrate  how   rapidly   the  production   of 

nitrate  of  soda  from  the  Chilean  fields  has  increased.  Undoubtedly 
a  much  greater  quantity  could  be  mined  if  there  were  no  monopoly 
or  if  miners  were  allowed  to  rush  in  indiscriminately  to  attack  the 
deposits  wherever  found.  At  present  the  industry  seems  well 
controlled  both  by  the  State  and  by  the  association,  both  makino- 


CRUSHING   MACHINERY. 


40 


INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU   OF  THE   AMERICAN  REPUBLICS. 


careful  studies  of  the  world's  markets  and  future  possibilities  for 
consumption. 

The  second  phase  of  the  association's  purpose  is  to  spread  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  sources  of  nitrate  of  soda,  of  the  essential  value  of  nitro- 
gen compounds  in  the  arts  and  in  all  industrial  processes,  and  es- 
pecially to  extend  in  every  direction  among  those  whose  business  it 
is  to  deal  with  products  of  the  soil  a  better  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  no  soil  can  forever  maintain  a  highly  productive  capacity.  That 
is  to  say,  any  soil  will,  after  a  time,  decrease  in  commercially  pro- 
ductive value.  Soil  must  be  nourished  before  paying  crops  can  be 
grown.  If  the  soil  does  not  find  this  nourishment  from  the  environ- 
ment it  must  be  artificially  supplied.  The  three  essential  soil  and 


FIG.  15. — Workmen  in  a  nitrate  plant. 

plant  foods  are  potash,  phosphorus,  and  nitrogen.  At  present  the 
only  available  supply  of  nitrogen  is  from  the  nitrate  of  soda  fields 
in  Chile. 

The  English,  at  the  beginning  of  the  exploitation  of  the  nitrate 
fields,  were  the  first  to  learn  the  practical  value  of  the  salt  as  a  fer- 
tilizer; they  for  years  absorbed  the  entire  output,  and  their  business 
men  purchased  the  mines.  Germans,  who  later  on,  through  labora- 
tory experimentation,  grasped  the  situation,  dissatisfied  at  the  Eng- 
lish control,  made  purchases  for  themselves,  so  that  to-day  the  im- 
mense industry  is  in  the  hands  of  these  two  nationalities.  Of  course 
this  does  not  influence  the  market  or  the  ultimate  destination  of  the 


THE   GREAT    NITRATE   FIELDS   OF    CHILE. 


41 


product,  because  the  propaganda  must  be  universal  in  its  significance 
and  application.     The  absorption  has  been,  for  some  years,  in  about 


ANNUAL  EXPORTATION 

-~©F- 

CHILEAN  NITRATE. 


YEAR.     1696   I    1899      19OO      19O1       19OZ.       1QO.5       19O4       19O5    I   19O6       19O2    jYEAU 


EXPORTATION   OF  CHILEAN  NITRATE 

-BY- 
FIVE;.  YEAR  PERIODS. 


FIG.  16. 


the  following  ratio:  England  taking  40   per  cent  of  the  output; 
Germany,  20  per  cent;  the  United  States,  20  per  cent;  France,  10 


42         INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU  OF   THE  AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 

per  cent,  and  other  countries  the  remaining  10  per  cent.     The  con- 
sumption in  the  United  States  is  slowly  but  steadily  rising.     The 


FIG.  17. — Packing  nitrate  into  bags. 

Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States,  the  national  and 
State  experiment  stations,  the  commercial  fertilizer  companies,  and 


FIG.  18. — Getting  ready  a  nitrate  train. 

progressive  farmers  are  learning  the  value  of  Chilean  nitrate.    The 
product  is  shipped  to  Egypt,  Japan,  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  Australia, 


THE  GREAT   NITRATE   FIELDS   OF   CHILE. 


43 


Holland,  Belgium,  Italy,  and  Spain.  The  Argentine  Republic  is 
beginning  to  use  nitrate  on  the  wheat  acres,  which  it  was  thought  at 
first  never  would  need  fertilization. 


(<*)  (6) 

FIG  19. — Wheat  from  fields — (a)   without  nitrate,    (6)   with  nitrate. 

Plants  can  make  use  of  nitrogen  only  when  it  is  present  in  the  soil 
in  the  form  of  nitrates.  Nitrate  of  soda  is  the  only  fertilizer  con- 
taining nitrogen  in  the  nitrate  condition,  and  consequently  is  the 
most  available  food  of  this  kind  to  give  to  plants.  The  method 

47648— Bull.  1,  pt 


44          INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU  OF   THE  AMERICAN   REPUBLICS. 

of  using  it,  however,  is  a  matter  of  careful  technique  for  the  agri- 
culturist to  learri  by  both  study  and  experiment.  The  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  has  found  good  results  in  growing 
asparagus,  tomatoes,  cabbage,  celery,  turnips,  peppers,  hay,  wheat, 
rye,  and  forage  crops.  Various  State  experiment  and  agricultural 
stations  have  advocated  nitrates  for  sugar  beets,  onions,  the  olives, 
citrus  fruits,  tobacco,  and  forest  trees.  Undoubtedly  as  knowledge 
advances  the  use  of  nitrate  of  soda  will  be  extended  even  further  in 
this  direction,  and  intensified  agriculture  in  this  country  will  be  as 
definite  a  field  of  profit  as  it  is  in  Belgium. 

The  nitrate  salt  as  exported  from  Chile  has  other  uses  besides 
that  in  giving  food  to  plants.     Its  chief  additional  value,  however, 


FIG.  20.— Bags  of  nitrate  ready  for  shipment. 

is  in  the  manufacture  of  nitric  acid,  which  is  an  essential  in  many 
industrial  arts,  but  especially  in  the  manufacture  of  nitro-explosives 
and  smokeless  powders.  About  2f  pounds  of  sodium  nitrate  are  re- 
quired to  manufacture  1  pound  of  nitrocellulose.  In  the  United 
States  alone,  in  1900,  over  3,000,000  pounds  of  smokeless  powder  were 
manufactured,  and  the  total  of  this  product  is  growing  rapidly.  It 
may  be  seen,  therefore,  how  enormous  must  be  the  consumption  of 
the  salt,  and  how  dependent  the  world  is  upon  the  supply  from 
Chile. 

What  effect  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  have  on  the 
shipping  of  nitrate  can  be  determined  only  when  that  waterway  is 
actually  open  to  navigation.  Iquique,  the  great  nitrate  port,  is 


THE    GREAT    NITRATE    FIELDS    OF    CHILE. 


45 


2,267  miles  from  Panama,  or  4,296  miles  from  New  York,  and  7,015 
from  Liverpool.  Approximately  speaking,  the  gain  to  Europe  of 
the  Panama  route  over  that  round  the  Horn  is  3,000  miles.  Nitrate 
is  "  dead  freight."  The  United  States  merchant  marine  should  apply 
to  this  case  the  lesson  of  international  commerce  by  sending  return 
freights  of  merchandise  for  the  nitrates  received  from  Chile. 


